In Cuomos defense I don't think any of you can possibly imagine the problem NYC was having with the dead and dying, and where to house them.
Bodies were liteally stacking up.

SO here's your thought problem:

you have ten thousand old people who have not been tested and might be infected, and are not in serious condition , and no hospital space to treat them. What do you do, tell them to go home and die? Many did just that. ANd some went to old folks homes.

I don't think any of us can properly grasp the scope of the logistics involved. You can't just tell sick old people to go die at home unless thats what they choose to do. In my opinion with the infection level that high the spread to old folks homes was inevitable.